Razor plane



April 30, 1963 v E. J. MATOUSEK 3,087,243

RAZOR PLANE Filed April 18, 1961 7 ,1?" myz agF g I.

L l [I] 7 19 18% 19 14 21 VII/i 5 18 INVENTOR. 7 22 ERNEST J. MA TOUJfK 1 BY /I-9: ATTOR/VEX United States Patent Ofifice A 3,087,243 Patented Apr. 30, 1963 3,087,243 RAZOR PLANE Ernest J. Matousek, 2160 E. Main St., Owosso, Mich. Filed Apr. 18, 1961, Ser. No. 103,841 4 Claims. (Cl. 30-169) The present invention relates to planes or scrapers and more particularly to such tools which employ a razor blade or the like to provide the scraping or cutting element.

A wide variety of planes using razor blades as the cutting element have been devised and used. These planes employ an arrangement which holds the blade in a fixed position and usually at an angle to the surface being worked. Such planes are ordinarily limited to working flat surfaces of soft material such as Wood.

The plane embodying the inventive concept is adaptable for working a variety of surfaces including woods, plastics, paints, varnishes, glues and metals.

It is a general object of the invention to provide an improved plane employing a razor blade as the cutting element.

It is a further object to provide such a plane in which the razor blade may move relative to its support and to the surface being worked.

Another object of the invention is to provide a plane in which provision is made to avoid clogging or the accumulation of an excess of cut-off material in the area of the blades cutting edge.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a razor plane in which pressure between the cutting edge and worked surface may be varied continuously at the will of the operator to make extremely delicate cuts or deep cuts.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a plane in which the blade pressure may be varied manually, if desired, the pressure may be resiliently maintained at a constant degree.

A still further object is to provide a plane alfording safe storage of the blade.

These and other objects and advantages are attained by the present invention, various novel features of which will be apparent from the following description and from the accompanying drawings disclosing a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a plane embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the plane shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-section of the plane taken on line 3-3 in FIG. 1 and showing a razor blade in cutting position;

FIG. 4 is a transverse cross-section taken on line 4-4 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a view from the left end of the plane in FIG. 3 and showing a razor blade in cutting position;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing additional structure and means for storing a cutting element;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view of the blade and adjacent structure as shown in FIG. 3 but at an enlarged scale; and

FIG. 8 is a view showing an additional cutting position of the plane.

The preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a body member 11 having a pair of longitudinally extending runners 12 and 13 held in spaced apart relation by a horizontal bridging portion 14. The runners 12 and '13 are adapted to slide on a surface to be worked and to support the bridging portion 14 in elevated position above the worked surface.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, slots 16 and 17 are formed transversely of the body member with the slot 16 disposed intermediate the ends and the slot 17 disposed adjacent one end of the body member 11. The slots are identical and reference will be made to the slot 16 unless indicated otherwise. As best seen in FIG. 3, the slot 16 is disposed vertically and as seen in FIG. 4 is longer than the spacing between said runers 12 and 13 so that the slot is formed not only in the bridging portion 14 but also by inner portions of the runners. The Width of each slot 16 and 17 is slightly greater than the thickness of a razor blade 18. When a blade 18 is disposed in cutting position as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, it is free to float vertically or perpendicular to the Work surface. As can be understood from an examination of FIG. 5, the blade is embraced across its longest part by the Walls of the slot 16 in the bridging portion and at its opposite ends by the walls of the slot 16 in the bridging portion and at its opposite ends by the walls of the slot formed in the runners 12 and 13. Further support is given to the portions of the blade intermediate the runners by pairs of depending lugs 19 formed integrally with the bridging portion 14. The lugs 19 of each pair are aligned with each other at opposite sides of the slots 16 and 17 to limit any deflection of the blade portion intermediate the runners 12 and 13.

The lower portion of the slots 16 and 17 in the runners 12 and 13 are enlarged by recesses 21 which aiford passage of material removed from the worked surface around the ends of the blade when the cutting edge is engaged in cutting position.

The preferred cutting element of the plane is a conventional razor blade 18 having a single cutting edge 22 and a re-enforced, thickened portion 23 opposite the cutting .edge.

To operate the plane, the blade 18 is inserted into one of the slots 16 or 17 and the body member 11 is held in the hand with the fingers against one of the sides 24 and the thumb against the other side. The index finger is used to apply pressure to the top portion 23 of the blade 18 to maintain the desired cutting pressure on the edge 22. The body member may then be moved toward or away from the operator so that the blade is disposed generally transversely to the direction of movement.

If a fixed blade pressure is preferred rather than variable pressure which may be applied by the finger of an operator, means for applying pressure is afforded by a detachable U-shaped spring clip 31., As shown in FIG.6, the clip 31 has a leg 32 engaging the bottom of the bridging portion 14 and a leg 33 which engages the top port 23 of the blade 18. The legs 32 and 33 are biased toward each other so that in the position shown in FIG. 6, pressure is applied downwardly on the blade 18 disposed in the slot 16. i

The maximum depth of cut is limited by stops 36 associated with each of the lugs as best seen in FIGS. 4 and 7. The stops engage the ridge formed by the reenforced top portion 23 of the blade 18 when the maximum cutting depth is reached.

With either spring or finger pressure, the plane is moved over the surface being worked and the blade edge 22 shaves or scrapes material from the surface. With some types of material such as plastics, paints and varnishes, the removed material accumulates rapidly. Although ample room is provided for such material to accumulate, clogging is avoided further by means of the recesses 21 which permit much of the material to pass around the end of the blade.

It will be noted that the blade 18 is disposed in a vertical position and whether downward pressure is applied by means of a finger or spring means, when hard surfaces are encountered the blade may move upwardly against the pressure being applied.

Referring to FIGS. 3, 5 and 6, a pair of recesses 37 are formed at one end of the runners 12 and 13 immediately below the bridging portion 14 and in lateral alignment with each other. As best seen in FIG. 8, the recesses are adapted to receive and grip the re-enforced portion of the blade 23. To use the blade in this position, the body member is tilted at an angle to the work surface 38. This feature has been found particularly useful for cleaning paint from glass since the blade remains flexible relative to the body member.

The invention makes possible the cutting and scraping of surfaces not heretofore possible with other types of razor planes. It has been found that the plane works not only conventional soft materials such as wood, plastic and paints, but also metals. For example, in the repairing and refinishing of automobile bodies, it is common to fill depressions with lead after which the excess of the solidified lead is ground to conform to the body contour. The plane of the present invention is particularly adapted to cut not only the lead but the surrounding sheet metal so that grind marks may be removed and so that the edges of the lead patch may be feathered to merge smoothly with the sheet metal. This unusual performance may be attributable to the vertical disposition of the blade and to the manner in which it is reenforced by the grooves and by the lugs to prevent undue flexing.

The plane is very adaptable to work not only flat sur faces but also those of varying contour. This feature can probably be attributed to the vertically floating blade.

Normally, the blade 18 is disposed in the slot 16- but the contour of a work piece may be such that it is desirable to use the blade in the slot 17 which is identical to slot 16. With the blade 18 in slot 17, it is possible to work closer to the edge of a surface, for example, a floor near the wall.

Referring to FIG. 6, it will be noted that the blade 18 is shown disposed in an inverted position in the slot 17. This affords a convenient means of storing a blade since the cutting edge remains concealed within the slot and the plane may be stored or placed in a workmans pocket without danger or injury.

A novel razor blade plane has been provided which affords working wood, metal, and painted surfaces of varying contour. Some of the novel aspects of the plane include a vertically movable blade supported in position to have varying cutting'pressure applied by an operator or constant pressure applied by a resilient means.

It should be understood that it is not intended to limit the invention to the above described forms and details, and that the invention includes such other forms and modifications as are embraced by the scope of the appended claims.

It is claimed and desired to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A tool for supporting a razor blade in cutting position comprising a body member having a pair of runners adapted to slide on a surface to be worked, a bridging portion joining said runners to maintain the latter in parallel spaced relation to each other and afford a work space between said runners and below said bridging member, a slot formed in said bridging member and in the inner portions of said runners facing said Work space, said slot being wider than the thickness of said blade and being adapted to receive a razor blade and position the latter in a vertical plane transverse to said runners to permit free vertical movement of said blade, the walls of said slot formed in said runners supporting the opposite end edges of said blade and the walls of said slot in said bridging member supporting said blade longitudinally thereof during vertical movement of said blade, said body member having a vertical height less than the depth of a razor blade to maintain a portion of said blade exposed above said bridging member in position to be urged manually into cutting engagement with the surface to be Worked.

2. A tool for supporting a razor blade in cutting position comprising a body member having a pair of runners adapted toslide on a surface to be worked, a bridging portion joining said runners to maintain the latter in parallel spaced relation and affording a work space between the runners and below said bridging member, said bridging member and runners forming a vertical slot transverse to said runners adapted to slidably receive a razor blade for free vertical movement, and a plurality of brace members depending from an underside of said bridging member at opposite sides of said slot in position to engage and prevent deflection of the portion of said blade disposed between said runners.

3. A tool for supporting a razor blade in cutting position comprising a body member having a pair of runners adapted to slide on a surface to be worked, a bridging portion joining said runners to maintain the latter in parallel spaced relation and affording a work space between the runners and below said bridging member, said bridging member and runners forming a vertical slot transverse to said runners adapted to slidably receive a razor blade for free vertical'movement, and a recess formed adjacent the bottom of each runner and merging with said slot to afiord a passage for cut-off material to pass around the ends of a blade when the latter is engaged with said surface to be worked.

4. A cutting and scraping tool comprising a body member, a blade adapted to be supported by said body member, said body member having a pair of runners adapted to slide on a surface to be worked, a bridging portion supporting said runners in parallel relation and forming a work space between said runners and below said bridging portion, said runners being spaced apart a distance less than the length of said blade, said .body member forming a slot transverse to said runners, said blade being disposed in said slot for free sliding movement perpendicular to a work surface and having a portion projecting above said body member when said blade is engaged with said work surface, and a generally U-shaped spring element detachably engaged with an underside of said bridging portion and with said blade portion projecting above said body member to resiliently urge said blade into engagement with said work surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 7,543 Carver A5,. 6, 1850 2,197,650 Piper et a1. Apr; 16, 1940 2,198,530 Francis Apr. 23, 1940 2,549,542 Stair Apr. 17, 1951 2,623,282 Jauch Dec. 30-, 1952 2,882,594 Long Apr. 21, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 603,560 France Jan. 11, 1926 447,409 Great Britain May 13, 1936 

1. A TOOL FOR SUPPORTING A RAZOR BLADE IN CUTTING POSITION COMPRISING A BODY MEMBER HAVING A PAIR OF RUNNERS ADAPTED TO SLIDE ON A SURFACE TO BE WORKED, A BRIDGING PORTION JOINING SAID RUNNERS TO MAINTAIN THE LATTER IN PARALLEL SPACED RELATION TO EACH OTHER AND AFFORD A WORK SPACE BETWEEN SAID RUNNERS AND BELOW SAID BRIDGING MEMBER, A SLOT FORMED IN SAID BRIDGING MEMBER AND IN THE INNER PORTIONS OF SAID RUNNERS FACING SAID WORK SPACE, SAID SLOT BEING WIDER THAN THE THICKNESS OF SAID BLADE AND BEING ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A RAZOR BLADE AND POSITION THE LATTER IN A VERTICAL PLANE TRANSVERSE TO SAID RUNNERS TO PERMIT FREE VERTICAL MOVEMENT OF SAID BLADE, THE WALLS OF SAID SLOT FORMED IN SAID RUNNERS SUPPORTING THE OPPOSITE END EDGES OF SAID BLADE AND THE WALLS OF SAID SLOT IN SAID BRIDGING MEMBER SUPPORTING SAID BLADE LONGITUDINALLY THEREOF DURING VERTICAL MOVEMENT OF SAID BLADE, SAID BODY MEMBER HAVING A VERTICAL HEIGHT LESS THAN THE DEPTH OF A RAZOR BLADE TO MAINTAIN A PORTION OF SAID BLADE EXPOSED ABOVE SAID BRIDGING MEMBER IN POSITION TO BE URGED MANUALLY INTO CUTTING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE SURFACE TO BE WORKED. 